Snooze Smarts: How Naps Help Preschoolers Learn

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Teachers have long considered naps a valuable part of a
preschooler's day, and research now confirms the learning
benefits of daytime snoozes.

After napping, children performed significantly better on a
memory task than when they did not nap, a new study finds, and
the napping payoff extended to the following day. The findings
suggest that naps are
vital for memory consolidation.

"Essentially, we are the first to report evidence that naps are
important for preschool children," study researcher Rebecca
Spencer, a research psychologist at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst, said in a statement. "Our study shows that
naps help the kids better remember what they are learning in
preschool." [ 11
Surprising Facts About a Baby's Brain ]

Enrollment in publicly funded preschools has increased as a
result of research showing long-term education and health
benefits of early schooling. But parents and administrators have
considered eliminating nap times to make additional time for
learning, because until now, there hadn't been much research
demonstrating the benefits of naps in preschool children.

In the study, 40 children from six preschools throughout western
Massachusetts were taught a visual-spatial task similar to the
game Memory. They were shown a grid of pictures and were asked to
remember the location of particular images.

In one instance, the children napped during the school day for an
average of 77 minutes. Another time, they were kept awake during
that time period. The kids completed the memory task in the
afternoon after napping or staying awake, and again the following
day.

The tots showed better recall after napping compared with when
they had not napped, the researchers found. The kids remembered
the picture locations with an accuracy of 75 percent after
snoozing, versus 65 percent after staying awake. After napping,
they also performed better on the task the following day.

The findings, detailed today (Sept. 23) in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show the
benefits
of sleeping in close proximity to learning, the
researchers said, adding that when kids miss a nap, they can't
simply make up the benefit with a normal night's sleep.

In another experiment, Spencer and her colleagues recruited a
group of 14 preschoolers to nap in a lab. The scientists, who
measured physiological changes during the naps, found a
correlation between brain activity associated with integrating
new information and the memory benefit
of sleep.

The researchers say preschools should develop napping guidelines
to ensure adequate nap times, and provide an environment that
encourages kids to sleep.